Rollers are commonly used in many industries for applying or transferring a coat or covering to a substrate. For example, rollers are used to apply liquid solutions or dispersions of all kinds such as paint, ink, adhesives, hot melts, etc., to various surfaces for decorative or protective purposes. Still other types of application may be effected by rollers, such as the application of an imitation or simulation wood graining to metal surfaces.
In time, the outer surface of a roller becomes sufficiently worn or out-of-round that it is no longer suitable for use. As an economy measure, it has been the practice to recover or reface the roller. The remnant of the original cover is suitably removed as by machining, usually down to a rigid core, and a new outer, cylindrical body is then mounted on what is left.
It is not a simple matter to accomplish this using presently known techniques and obtain a serviceable roller. Skilled labor often is required. One practice has been for a user of a worn roller to ship it to a manufacturer of rollers who recovers the roller and then re-ships it back to the user. Since the core of the roller is usually of solid metal, and a worn roller of a large type employed may weigh upwards of 400 pounds, shipping the roller back and forth, plus the cost of repair, as well as the delay until the roller is again available for use, all combine to make the recovering of a roller an expensive and time-consuming operation.